Friday, January 29, 2016

I've been working on this one for a couple days now. It really has been a labor of LOVE in many ways. First... do you see that adorable Craftin' Desert Divas pup peeking out? Don't worry... you'll see more of him in a bit....

However, when a friend at work came to me and said her daughter used to make little polymer clay figures and she was cleaning out and was going to throw away her "rejects".. did I want them?...!!! ... well of course I did!! See the little red and white swirled lolly? That was from her stash. This was my jumping off point... upcycled item Number 1... saved it from the trash.. Oh! ... and there's a beautiful crocheted flower doily under there as well.....

I knew I wanted to do something with the pup... and a box... and the candy... but what box? I didn't have anything salvaged that was the right size or shape... a heart wasn't even on my radar... and while rummaging through my cupboards I found this little kraft heart box that I bought 'cause it was cheap and on sale and I'd probably do something with it someday. Not upcycled...but still perfect... heart shaped box of candy anyone? Here you can see one of the awesome arrows from that Heart of Hearts die I got from Craftin Desert Divas last week.. Also... an oh so adorable little crocheted heart... a gift from a friend... Tracey...as was the one above... and you can check out her blog here. (when we're done... and it's oh so worth it!). And don't forget my favorite little Gold Bling Gems from CTMH... I don't know what I'll do when they don't have these any more... they wouldn't do that to me... would they? Also you can see here where I painted the top of the box in gold metallic paint and then used some clear texture paste and a Tim Holtz lace stencil to dress it up a bit.

The sides of my heart box were covered with CTMH gold dot washi tape... another LOVE of mine... gold foil tape... LOVE... and some of my new heart and gold washi tape that I got from the Cutting Café Shop. LOVE more! Some Paper Sweeties ribbon... as many ribbons as I have.. my favorite and most versatile is the crinkled dyed seam binding... I just love the way it's all .. well... crinkly. A button from a friend and a little key dangling... ﻿

AND check out the back of the box too... a gift from my friend Mitra.. more about her below... some metal tape from Lowes painted with some metal primer and then more gold metallic paint... I LOVE it... and it's just as beautiful as the rest of it.

There he is!! I was stuck when it came to the inside.. how would I do it. So I headed over to my friend Mitra's blog for some inspiration... just inspiration... and while I was looking at her oh so yummy projects, it came to me and back to creating I go... (and be sure to check out her blog here too! Also very much worth it... and a good read). So... I added some of the gold dotted washi and gold foil tape to the inside (which was no small feat) and then I took some of the tissue paper from my recent Cutting Café order and cut it in a large heart shape... shoved it into the bottom of the box to form it.. then took a little bit of Modge Podge to the box and placed it back inside (Upcycled Item #2). I cut the heart large so that some of the tissue would stick up above the flowers I covered the bottom of the box with along with some more gold bling and just a bit of glitter... ﻿

So... to top off the whole candy theme... what's better than adding a few candy hearts? Yup... real candy... talk about literal! I just added some Modge Podge to them and when they were dry I had to trace over the cute little sayings because they didn't show up enough. Upcycled item #3 (really did save these from the trash too... yuk... does anyone really enjoy eating these?) A couple more doilies too...

Sorry for all the words... but I thought you might like to know! Thanks for stopping and stop again soon!﻿

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Quick post today... got this owdorable new stamp set from The Cutting Café Shop﻿ not to mention the most awesome red/gold washi tape. LOVE them both!! Took some time out from chores this morning to do this... and it was way more fun!

The background is cardstock dry embossed with the CTMH hearts embossing folder and versamark and then heat embossed with some gold sparkle embossing powder.﻿

The adorable little owls are from The Cutting Cafe's From Owl of Us stamp set as well as the branches. Just realized I was going to add a bow to the little girl owl... so .. imagine a bow because it's gonna happen. See the sparkly hearts all left over from my Heart of Hearts die that I used on the puppy card yesterday... even added one to the little word bubble from CTMH... 'cause he's telling her he loves her... awwwww.. and the stitched heart is from Lawn Fawn.

Notice the yummy washi tape... also a purchase from the Cutting Café ... the gold tape from CTMH, and that delicious old lace ribbon from my kind of LSS, Scraps of Love.. that my friend Linda took me and mom to a couple weeks ago... Linda that doesn't have a blog yet.....

Monday, January 25, 2016

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #144! Needed to make a masculine birthday card this week ... that was the real challenge for me... NO FLOWERS?!?!... NO GLITTER?!?! (although I did sneak a bit of that in :) ). It was good to get back to the Cricut and use some images from the Artistry cartridge for this one. Not to mention my poor Urban paperpack that's been sitting and collecting dust... pushed aside to make way for La Vie En Rose and Charlotte lately. I also took the opportunity to combine my card with this week's Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge #177. The little arrow and star cluster at the top are from the Urban Complements pack and I used some of the enamel gems that are so versatile, pretty, and kinda manly.....

Love this shield with the deer silhouette cutout from Artistry... such a pretty and handsome shape... and notice the glitter paper... shhhhh... don't mention that to my dad... I added a little metal to offset the glitter... he won't even know what hit him!

Be sure to check out these challenges this week! I triple dog dare you!

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Lori over at Chouxchoux is having another fun challenge this month with a prize!! $15 to spend at one of my favorite places, Funkie Junkie Boutique. It's all about the LOVE! This is one of my submissions for that challenge:

So... Adorable, right? I stumbled upon the January release over at Craftin Desert Divas this month and what did I find but this awesome Heart of Hearts cutout die... it cuts out this beautiful window of hearts AND as a bonus you get all the little cutout pieces to use as well. There are a couple other really neat dies in the set which I'll be using soon and I think you might just decide you need this die set. The paper is from the pack that my friend Linda (who doesn't have a blog yet) gave me because she didn't know what to do with it... trying to give her some ideas... hopefully this is helping. Although, I'm afraid I may be enabling her because she too just may "need" this die set once she sees it.

The pup? I'm in love with him. He's a digi download that I got in the Desert Divas shop today. Yup... I saw it... I wanted it... and I got it ... today. I'm really not big on digis... or haven't been... but it was so easy. $.99 and I have him forever and I can make him any size I want him. Will I do away with my stamps? NO WAY!! Will I buy another digi... oh yes... I'm sure I will. The ribbon is Paper Sweeties awesome crinkled seam binding ribbon and the flare is from last year's CTMH Valentines assortment. I know you can barely see it here, but that's why I like it... that arrow on the ribbon cluster... that's Heidi Swap as well as the "adore" sentiment at the bottom of the card.

So... shakers... I love them... and I know you do too. This shaker sequin mix is so yummy. If you look closely you can see there are little tiny flat hearts which come in the mix or you can buy a baggy of them separately and they are perfect for flat shaker elements... which you will see that soon as well. But a baggy of these beautiful mixes and hearts is just $1.00 right now... and as I'm saying that I'm thinking I better order some more right now before they are sold out.. you can't beat it! AND did I mention free shipping until January 31st??﻿

Thanks for stopping by again today and don't forget to come back tomorrow for Atlantic Hearts and maybe even another Valentines card... two posts on a Monday? Unheard of!! And don't forget to play along at Chouxchoux!!﻿

When I saw this little lion set at Reverse Confetti, Leaping Lions... I just knew I had to have it. And when I saw this month's Sketch For You to Try, just knew what I was going to do right away... but then... I was feeling all Valentinesy and such so it changed quite a bit... but the original plan is just on the backburner right now... soon to resurface. Plus! Lori over at Chouxchoux Paper Art Blog is having a fun Valentines/Hearts challenge and I always love to play along with her so... I think this one fits the bill! The paper was given to me by my friend, Linda (who doesn't have a blog yet, but when she does you'll be the first to know) and she said she just didn't know what to do with it so I was challenged to come up with something so I did... so cute and colorful... love it! It's from Moxxie. And you'll be seeing it again....

Isn't this little guy adorable? And the set has all kinds of cute sayings to go along with it. I used various dies for all of my hearts and some Paper Sweeties crinkled seam binding ribbon to top it off.

So be sure to stop by both of these challenges and play along... I know I'm not done yet!

Thursday, January 21, 2016

So! Big congrats to my mom, Suzanne Reynolds, for joining the Color My Heart Color Dare Challenge Design Team!! If you've seen her artwork, you know she deserves it, but she lamented for a few days about whether she was good enough to be on a Design Team. Silly Rabbit! This is a challenge she has been faithfully playing along with every single week for a long time. Finally, I told her if she did it, I would play along with the challenge as she has been playing along with Atlantic Hearts since I joined their Design Team. And she agreed.

This challenge is all about the colors. Each week you're challenged to use the colors for the week... all the colors and only the colors given. Encouraged to use Close to My Heart products (because they are awesome), but welcome to play along with any. If you don't have the exact colors chosen, you can use what you have that matches.

Black, White, and Greys... not my usual and definitely a challenge. So, I have a friend who has been working her butt off to get her next degree. She is awesome and of course she will succeed because she is the Queen, but she doubts herself so as she's nearing the finish line, I thought a little encouragement might be in order. Black and white...kind of graduationy... the background was made with CTMH Charming Cascades. I stamped it in Versamark and embossed in white, and then I stamped again in Versamark and embossed in clear sparkles. Love how it turned out. The sentiment is from CTMH also... Crazy Good. That adorable little puppy... just got this one from Reverse Confetti... the set is Puppy Love and I am in love. See the little heart? That was cut from a tag that came with an Alex & Ani friendship bracelet this awesome lady gave me. Don't worry... she's one of my best friends, but she doesn't read my blog.. hmmm... (or if she does I guess I'll find out now...lol).

The awesome starbursts are from CTMH's Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge, and the stars and bow are also CTMH. See the cute little crown... Poppy Stamps has some of the cutest little dies and this is one of them... it cuts a smaller crown and a large Burger King type crown. I thought this one suited this cute little pup, that I colored with my Shin Hans and added a few spots and then liquid glassed the eyes and nose.

So..... hop on over to Color My Heart Color Dare and check out all of the cool artwork and play along with this one. You really only have until 9pm mountain time today for this week.. but I think you can do it! And if not, come back and check out the colors for next week... and if you're really good, do what mom does and mix up this one and the Atlantic Hearts... colors, sketch... two decisions made for you! Great place to start! At the very least, stop by mom's blog and give her a shout out for taking the leap!

Monday, January 18, 2016

Welcome to this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #143! When I first saw this sketch I thought this was going to be a hard one... but then the idea came to me to use the sun's rays, or a water spout for the part of the sketch that radiates upward... I decided on the water spout when my mind saw waves for that little thin rectangular piece and then this adorable whale from CTMH's Operations Smile set, Animal Greetings came to mind. Can you see it?:

The rest is a blur. I've been slowly chipping away at it since that last crop on the third...lol... I have wonderful visitors this week.. my boys... and I don't want to spend my time in my craft room when they're here (only because I can't convince them to spend some time in there with me...lol) so it sits on my table and as I walk by and have a few moments I add to it. The paper is from a S.E.I. 6x6 paper stack, Dill Blossom that a wonderful friend gave me who was cleaning out her scrap room. Then there's that whale... adorable... I just love that set of little of animals and punny greetings.

The splashes were part of a Whale Cricut cut and to be honest I'm not sure what cartridge. I pulled the whale into Design Space, ungrouped the items, kept only the spout of water and cut it in three different sizes. The waves are from the CTMH Artbooking cartridge. I used some Stampendous Frantage distressing embossing powder on the tops of the spouts and the waves after attacking them with a pair of scissors to expose some of the white core... I kind of like the way it turned out. I ended up only being able to fit two here so I used the third as an embellishment with my ribbon cluster. A few drops of liquid glass here and there and I think it looks a little watery....

The ribbon is old CTMH white seam binding ribbon that I swiped some Distress Inks on and then spritzed it with water, scrunched it up and put it under something heavy for a day. Then I took it out, unraveled it and let it dry. LOVE the way it turned out and I'm definitely doing that again soon. Added a few more things from my stash and finally today... two weeks later... I'm done...lol!! Just in time for this week's challenge!

Monday, January 11, 2016

Welcome to Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #142! Love this week's sketch paired with some papers from La Vie En Rose and the January Stamp of the Month, Beloved Bouquet. This was such a quick card (for me) ... and I love the way it came out. The white piece I embossed with the CTMH Heart Embossing folder and love the way it looks.. can you believe all the white on my card???!!!! I think adding the texture of the hearts helped me to get over it and I love it! AND I didn't get any smudges on it! (No need to point it out if you notice one... lol)

This set is so beautiful for any occasion, but I'm making a lot of Valentinesy cards with it. Guess I'll be sending out Valentines this year! Um... probably after the 14th if I'm being honest...lol!! Who knows though... it's a new year! Don't you just love the new gold puffies in the latest Seasonal Expressons Idea Book???

Don't you just LOVE this flower??? It really is a breeze to use and so easy to not be exact with it... Hoping to try something out with it that will really make you a believer... so we'll see.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Here's another one with the new CTMH Charlotte Paper .. I just can't get enough of it... I think it's that pop of sorbet along with all of those other neutral colors that appeals to me. There's the rest of that beautiful doily from Waffle Flowers Crafts and I added a little bit of the dyed & crinkled seam binding ribbon from Paper Sweeties (with of course some PS sequins).

I just love using the Paper sweeties ribbon.. it always comes out to be such a beautiful mess for me and I love that! That cute little chipboard button with the bee on it was perfect. I believe that is from My Minds Eye and a friend was cleaning out her stash and this was in it. Another one of my faves is the gold jewelry thread I got at Michael's... it's thin and perfect for making bows through tiny little button holes...

﻿

The gold centers for the flowers are new from CTMH... love these little puffies! I wasn't sure at first because of some of the shapes, but this shape is perfect for the center of a flower....

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to stop back tomorrow for Atlantic Hearts!

So, I went to a crop last weekend thrown by a fellow CTMH Consultant, Denise Anderson Turley. Her crops are always a lot of fun and I get to see some people I don't get to see very often. It's held in a Bass Pro of all places! But nice because there is a restaurant right downstairs with yummy food and like I said... good times! I love Make N Takes, but I very rarely make them exactly as they were intended, not because I don't like the original, but because I guess I just can't stand the thought of having another card out there exactly like the one I make...lol... so I flipped some paper over (don't you just love the colors and patterns in this new Charlotte paper pack?)... used my Shin Hans to add some more color to the flowers (Springtime Wishes set along with the dies), added part of a doily from another project I made there (which I will post in a bit) and added a few gold pieces.

Monday, January 4, 2016

Here we are ... the first Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge for 2016. Loved this sketch because it was so versatile and easy for me to decide what I wanted to do. I am loving this Beloved Bouquet January Stamp of the Month. It's so pretty with almost any color scheme. I used it for this one with the La Vie En Rose paper and it makes a perfect Valentines Card.... I wonder who this will be for....

I did have a hard time deciding which papers and reds to use from the pack... took me a while to get the right mix, but I was happy with the result. This paper pack is gorgeous and mixes a couple different reds and pinks. This is difficult for me because I often will spend a long time matching up just the right reds. In order to make it work in my head I had to use all of the colors and then some.

I've been really liking the look of a white sentiment on black cardstock so I used that for this one... stamped the sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed it in white. As you can see, I'm a little sloppy with my embossing powder... but I don't mind a little oversplash...lol! I kind of like things imperfectly perfect. And... that beautiful button is from the Funkie Junkie Boutique, and the sequins are from Paper Sweeties, as well as the ribbon.

So head on over to Atlantic Hearts blog and check out this week's sketch, last week's artwork, and maybe you'll decide to play along. By Wednesday last week's winners and the design team projects for this week will be up. You have until Sunday to link up your project. Lots of time... try something new in the new year and welcome back to those of you that have been playing along for a while now.

Saturday, January 2, 2016

Happy New Year and welcome to the first Three Amigos Blog Hop of 2016! This month we challenged each other to make a card using only three colors in the new Charlotte paper pack from Close to My Heart. This is a beautiful paper pack and the three colors I used were Black, Champagne and Sorbet (white doesn't count). It was harder than I thought it would be... there are so many beautiful papers in this pack that I wanted to use....more than ever because now the CTMH paper packs come with more printed paper and no cardstock. I also used the beautiful January Stamp of the Month, Beloved Bouquet.

I'm all about the shaker cards lately... they are so much fun with so many beautiful sequins. I used the Paper Sweeties awesome cupped flower shaped sequins, some clear and black sequins from Pretty Pink Posh, and some of a sequin mix I got from Neat and Tangled. I used some gift certificates I won to get circle frame stitched dies from My Favorite Things over the holidays and they worked great to cut both the cardstock and a couple foam pieces to fit underneath so I didn't have to use up all my popup tape to make this one... if you don't have dies, it's easy enough to make a frame circle frame using the Cricut, but I picked these because they also have the stitches on them. The stamped flower and sentiment are from the January Stamp of the Month, Beloved Bouquet... this is one gorgeous set and I've used it twice already... come back tomorrow for my Atlantic Hearts Challenge post to see the second card.

I used some seam binding ribbon I swiped some sorbet ink onto and added a few more sequins and an acrylic flower I had in my stash as well as some cuts I had leftover from another project.

Now...take a few more minutes and hop on over to Donna's and Susan's blogs to see what they have cooked up for you! All the best to everyone for 2016! Thanks for stopping by!

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I LOVE all things papercrafty! So glad you could stop and check out my creations! Hope you'll come back soon! And if you leave me some love and let me know you were here I'll visit you right back if I can find you!